WG goalie finds net in win over CNS

Refusing to act as if the rest of the journey is a preordained march to the top, the West Genesee boys lacrosse team kept working hard — and even threw in a little fun — as it neared an undefeated regular season.

This combination of work and fun manifested itself fully in last Tuesday’s game against Cicero-North Syracuse, where it crushed the Northstars 15-3.

Up until the late portion of the second quarter, it was fairly normal behavior. WG carefully built a 6-1 lead and relied upon its ferocious defense to make sure that Nick Lococo, Jeff Gilbert and the rest of the CNS attack never got started.

Then, after making another save with three minutes left in the half, goalie John Galloway drifted out of the net. That was nothing unusual, as the senior often moves up the field to try and trigger an offensive opportunity.

Only this time, Galloway kept the ball, and picked up his speed. He went straight up the middle, the crowd noise growing with each step, then passed it off to his right to Brian Donahue. Instantly, Donahue passed it back to Galloway and, at the point, took a hard shot that got past CNS goalie Jamie Praino and found the net.

As the crowd erupted, the Wildcat players mobbed Galloway. It was the first time since 1997 (Jeremy Platt) that a WG goalie had put in a goal, and the buzz would stay among the fans for a while, since the game was already well in hand.

It got to 8-1 by halftime, thanks to Joe Pompo’s goal 3.8 seconds before the break. In the third quarter, WG showed off even more, as Tim Desko scored 12 second into the period, and Kevin Wadach, Luke Cometti and Collin Donahue all earned goals in a span of 1:03.

For the night, Mazzoni (four goals, one assist) and Brian Donahue (two goals, three assists) led in points. Collin Donahue added two assists to his single tally as Jeremy Plochko, Matt Evanchak and Aaron Printup all delivered single goals.

All that is left for the Wildcats is to take out Central Square on Senior Night this Friday in Camillus.